Family of six saved from eviction

When Jessica came to CHAC, her rent arrears exceeded £1,600 and her family was at risk of eviction. Jessica was living with her husband Ben, three dependent children and one nondependent son.

As a secure tenant of Canterbury City Council, Jessica was in breach of a 2019 court order to pay her rent in full plus £10 each week towards her rent arrears. (Had Jessica kept to this court order, all rent arrears, plus court costs of £394, would have been cleared.) Now, the Council was about to apply to Canterbury County Court for an eviction.

How CHAC helped

Jessica was in receipt of Universal Credit (UC), but we found that UC was not covering her rent in full. And a monthly shortfall of £35 meant Jessica’s rent arrears were continuing to mount.

We also found that UC was deducting £75 from Jennifer’s monthly housing costs because her eldest son (who lived with the family) was 22 years old. On our advice, Jennifer agreed to pay her son’s monthly rent of £75 direct tothe Council. This was in addition to the housing costs being paid to the Council by UC.

Discovering that UC had not been informed of Jessica’s rent increases, we secured Jessica’s consent to update her UC claim with the correct rent details.

Jessica began paying her monthly rent in full, plus £40 off her rent arrears, and we agreed to negotiate with the Council. We also applied for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) from the Council to prevent the family becoming homeless.

The outcome

A DHP of £650 was awarded to reduce Jessica’s rent arrears. The Council agreed to take no further action to evict the family on condition that the rent (plus £40 towards rent arrears) be paid in full each month

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